Official Picture Entry Thread for BC Bonfire Grow-Out Contest

Camaro Show Corals · Jan 2, 2022

chopper320 said:
This is embarrassing. Can we please get back to enjoying the contest? There are so many other worse things in this world that it seems ridiculous to waste your time and energy arguing over this.

The majority of us are just having a good time trying to grow out an awesome frag and seeing how we measure up to the other skilled growers. If we happen to win, that will be icing on the cake.

Me personally, I am not worried that someone posted a day late a couple of times but I would also understand if they were disqualified for it. Either way it’s not worth my energy to get bent out of shape over.

I feel like Adam did us a favor to have this contest for us and this kind of behavior will sour any future grow out contests.

If @BranchingHammer has bailed on this thread, I’m willing to go thru and put together a list of all participants that I think are still eligible and if anyone is missed, they can point it out and we can look at it and add them if they should be there. If the participant feels that they should be eligible but the remaining group feels they should not, I can put an asterisk by their name and Adam can make the call. I can update the list at the end of each month so it’s easy to see who’s left. If everyone wants me to do that, just let me know.

Lets just have some fun! I’m about to step up my game for the last 4 months so everyone is just competing for 2nd place anyway

I agree and thank you. Mountain over molehills. I love grow out contests and find them one of the most enjoyable things about the hobby. I am In favor for you to take over and hold the torch, but I do think we need to hear from branchinghammer if he would like to pass the Torch.
Thank you

SamMule · Jan 2, 2022

I don't think anyone else has an issue. Let's just forget about it and move on!

I need to move my frag near something radioactive or something. Gonna need to get some freakish growth if I'm gonna catch those frontrunners!

Maybe find a supplier of some quality Acroids

Scdell · Jan 2, 2022

Maybe we need @Battlecorals to chime in?

ReefBeta · Jan 2, 2022

I haven't check R2R much for the past half year, but man what's going on here.

The way I see it, monthly picture is mostly for making sure the result at the end of the contest is actually grown from the frag from the start. (Like, not somehow somewhere get a grown out colony and claim it's grown out from the that frag. So even a picture every two or three months can easily tell it's cheating or not.

But yeah rules are rules, so I'm fine if we decided to enforce that. But I won't be upset if we don't disqualify people that miss more than one month of pictures. Let's just have fun watching it grow, or not grow, whatever lol.

UnderwaterGamer · Jan 2, 2022

I have no stick in this fight but I'm enjoying reading this and seeing everyones progression pictures! Its crazy to see how the growth patterns/coloration vary in everyones tanks

I do think its extremely ironic that the one with the "Hospitality Award" is showing the least amount of hospitality about this whole.. situation..

DMG Reef · Jan 2, 2022

reeferjeeper said:
I have no stick in this fight but I'm enjoying reading this and seeing everyones progression pictures! Its crazy to see how the growth patterns/coloration vary in everyones tanks

I do think its extremely ironic that the one with the "Hospitality Award" is showing the least amount of hospitality about this whole.. situation..

He's actually a very nice guy. He just thinks the rules should be enforced to keep the playing field level. I'm not sure why anyone has an issue with that. But it appears that several do.

tbaity1401 · Jan 2, 2022

IslandLifeReef said:
The rule is pretty clear. It was even underlined. So, what other rules don't need to be followed? By the way, three months were either late or missed.

BranchingHammer said:
Hi everyone,

This thread will be used for monthly submissions of frag pictures. Please use the discussion thread here to talk about other details of the contest and husbandry items.

Here are the rules of the contest again for those who missed it. Please read them very carefully in order to make sure you are not disqualified from the contest in any way.
1) Competition will last for 1 year (365 days from when you receive your piece)
2) The 1st month submission must be within 3 days of receiving your frag.
3) The last submission must be 365 days from receiving your frag or sooner. NOT later
4) A ruler must be against your frag for every months’ submission picture.
5) A picture must be submitted by the end of the month, every month. You can submit anytime during the month but it must be submitted by the last day of the month. You are allowed to miss 1 month of entries. If you miss more than 1 month you will be disqualified.
6) You can remove the coral from the plug and mount it anywhere that you choose. If placed on a disk it can be moved around the tank.
7) Adam from @Battlecorals will decide the winner based on growth
8) The prize will be based on the number of entries. The prize will be split and will be a gift certificate to Battlecorals. Each piece will pay 1st and 2nd place with a 75/25 split.

Feel free to PM me or @Battlecorals with any questions regarding the contest, or post them in the discussion thread here.

1. Think we follow the general 1 year rule
2. Not sure how this is enforced...maybe someone needs to get with Adam to get shipping confirmation and ensure everyone posted within 3 days. If not 3 days, are they automatically disqualified or does it count as your 1 month miss? This wasn't stipulated
3. Same month seems fair. Not sure why it has to be exactly 365 days as long as the month of April..doubt the contest is turning if someone gets an extra week or so of growth.
4. Ruler needs to be defined. I think I've seen a digital caliper being used...is this OK or not?
5. Discussed ad nauseum
6. "The tank" needs to be defined...can I move it to another tank if I have multiple? What about a friend's tank etc.?
7. Growth needs to be defined...is it tallest, widest, polyp extension, etc.? What if there are multiple Adams at Battle Corals? Which one is judging...

The above is obviously sarcasm and doesn't require a response. Point being that there's a lot to infer in the rules so I think we're ok giving a little grace on the monthly pics if everyone is agreeable

IslandLifeReef said:
I believe the intent of the rule was to have certain conditions that had to be met in order to qualify. If you meet all of the conditions, then you qualify. Maybe you could run the lottery. If I'm off by one or two numbers I should still win. If not, are you being super picky?

I dont believe this is an accurate analogy and shouldn't need to explain why. Although I don't play the lottery (because its statistically moronic in most cases), don't you win something if you hit 4 numbers...

I'm done responding about the situation and looking forward to getting back to looking at Bonfire frags. Like others, I have no "issue" either way, just hated seeing someone get kicked out over something so trivial.

Scdell · Jan 3, 2022

tbaity1401 said:
1. Think we follow the general 1 year rule
2. Not sure how this is enforced...maybe someone needs to get with Adam to get shipping confirmation and ensure everyone posted within 3 days. If not 3 days, are they automatically disqualified or does it count as your 1 month miss? This wasn't stipulated
3. Same month seems fair. Not sure why it has to be exactly 365 days as long as the month of April..doubt the contest is turning if someone gets an extra week or so of growth.
4. Ruler needs to be defined. I think I've seen a digital caliper being used...is this OK or not?
5. Discussed ad nauseum
6. "The tank" needs to be defined...can I move it to another tank if I have multiple? What about a friend's tank etc.?
7. Growth needs to be defined...is it tallest, widest, polyp extension, etc.? What if there are multiple Adams at Battle Corals? Which one is judging...

The above is obviously sarcasm and doesn't require a response. Point being that there's a lot to infer in the rules so I think we're ok giving a little grace on the monthly pics if everyone is agreeable

I dont believe this is an accurate analogy and shouldn't need to explain why. Although I don't play the lottery (because its statistically moronic in most cases), don't you win something if you hit 4 numbers...

I'm done responding about the situation and looking forward to getting back to looking at Bonfire frags. Like others, I have no "issue" either way, just hated seeing someone get kicked out over something so trivial.

This..... Exactly. There's about 4 months left and it's been going good up till now. Let's get back on track and have a little fun. Life's too complicated as it is, let's not over complicate it anymore.
Happy New Year everyone!

IslandLifeReef · Jan 3, 2022

I'm not going to spend my time responding to each post.

@Scdell, to use your dance analogy, it does take two to tango. The problem is I never asked you to dance, you just cut in and now are mad that I didn't agree to let you lead.

My point the whole time is that the rules were broken. @The Camaro Show, if you think other rules were broken from the beginning, which ones? I noticed that you didn't say whether or not you enforce the rules during your golf competitions.

We don't have to agree. However, just like you, I can defend my position on this subject in this thread. I thought we could have an adult discussion. It's turned to "vote the guy out who pointed out a rule violation to protect the guy who violated the rule.

I believe that anyone who did not follow the rules should not be eligible to win. It's a slippery slope when you start allowing some rule to not be followed or begin putting arbitrary extensions on deadlines that were required in the rules. If you say 3 hours late is ok, are you going to then enforce the rule on someone who is 4 hours late? What about a day late being ok, then you enforce the rule on someone who posts 26 hours late? Again, a slippery slope. Soon, there is no requirement to post each month. Some of the most adamant people against following the rules have stated that they are in it just for the fun and that the prize doesn't matter. None have said that they are willing to remove themselves from prize consideration because they don't want it and will continue to post and follow along anyway.

As I have stated before, this contest has rules. We all agreed to follow them when we entered. No one complained about the rules or stated that they thought that they were unfair. Each contestant had to make one post a month with a picture of their frag with a ruler against it. That picture could be anytime during the month. If someone wanted to wait until the last day and then forgot, or fell asleep and posted late, the rule is pretty clear.

Scdell · Jan 3, 2022

IslandLifeReef said:
I'm not going to spend my time responding to each post.

@Scdell, to use your dance analogy, it does take two to tango. The problem is I never asked you to dance, you just cut in and now are mad that I didn't agree to let you lead.

My point the whole time is that the rules were broken. @The Camaro Show, if you think other rules were broken from the beginning, which ones? I noticed that you didn't say whether or not you enforce the rules during your golf competitions.

We don't have to agree. However, just like you, I can defend my position on this subject in this thread. I thought we could have an adult discussion. It's turned to "vote the guy out who pointed out a rule violation to protect the guy who violated the rule.

I believe that anyone who did not follow the rules should not be eligible to win. It's a slippery slope when you start allowing some rule to not be followed or begin putting arbitrary extensions on deadlines that were required in the rules. If you say 3 hours late is ok, are you going to then enforce the rule on someone who is 4 hours late? What about a day late being ok, then you enforce the rule on someone who posts 26 hours late? Again, a slippery slope. Soon, there is no requirement to post each month. Some of the most adamant people against following the rules have stated that they are in it just for the fun and that the prize doesn't matter. None have said that they are willing to remove themselves from prize consideration because they don't want it and will continue to post and follow along anyway.

As I have stated before, this contest has rules. We all agreed to follow them when we entered. No one complained about the rules or stated that they thought that they were unfair. Each contestant had to make one post a month with a picture of their frag with a ruler against it. That picture could be anytime during the month. If someone wanted to wait until the last day and then forgot, or fell asleep and posted late, the rule is pretty clear.

Learn to live with it or get out. There's apparently no one left here to enforce the rules. It's what it is. It's a light hearted contest that's supposed to be fun. It's not like the prize is thousands of $'s.
It's a battlebox.
You mentioned that you've lost 4 corals since this contest began. This is apparently influencing your thoughts here and stressing you out. It happens to the best. Get over it and quit the rant.

IslandLifeReef · Jan 3, 2022

Scdell said:
Learn to live with it or get out. There's apparently no one left here to enforce the rules. It's what it is. It's a light hearted contest that's supposed to be fun. It's not like the prize is thousands of $'s.
It's a battlebox.
You mentioned that you've lost 4 corals since this contest began. This is apparently influencing your thoughts here and stressing you out. It happens to the best. Get over it and quit the rant.

For someone who says they are done with this discussion, you sure do keep putting yourself back in. I'm not stressed at all about losing corals, it happens. I do, however, think that the rules should be followed. I guess you are the only one allowed to express an opinion.

If you want a contest with no rules, you are free to start one. As far as no-one being around to enforce the rules goes, that has yet to be determined.

And no, I'm not going to "get out."

Scdell · Jan 3, 2022

IslandLifeReef said:
For someone who says they are done with this discussion, you sure do keep putting yourself back in. I'm not stressed at all about losing corals, it happens. I do, however, think that the rules should be followed. I guess you are the only one allowed to express an opinion.

If you want a contest with no rules, you are free to start one. As far as no-one being around to enforce the rules goes, that is yet to be determined.

The tone of your posts say a lot.

People like you drag people like me back into things. You can't let it go no matter how many ask you to. Sad.

IslandLifeReef · Jan 3, 2022

Scdell said:
People like you drag people like me back into things. You can't let it go no matter how many ask you to. Sad.

And obviously, neither can you! You inserted yourself into this, nobody dragged you.

Scdell · Jan 3, 2022

IslandLifeReef said:
And obviously, neither can you! You inserted yourself into this, nobody dragged you.

I even said we can agree to disagree, but you feel a need to comment if I do.

Others have said that the rules should be followed. I guess it is only your opinion that matters.

You're the one finger pointing. You're the one that started all this. You're the one that can't let it go. I'm not commenting on everyone's thoughts on this. Just yours. You're commenting and arguing with everyone that doesn't agree with you. I'm not. Might be time for some self reflection? I'm officially done with you. I'm not going to keep this going anymore. It's a mute point that's not worth the effort or time involved. Happy New Year!

Scdell · Jan 3, 2022

There was a time in the beginning where I didn't feel like the "rules" were being abided to. I thought about it and I decided if I didn't like it that I was going to bail out of the contest instead of bringing up negativity here. This was just for fun after all. Why should I ruin everyone else's fun?
But some of us put themselves first and ruin it for everyone else.

IslandLifeReef · Jan 3, 2022

Scdell said:
......... Yes I believe that everyone should follow the rules, that's what they are their for. Otherwise why have them???

^^^^This is where we agree.

Where we seem to disagree is whether or not a contestant should point out when a rule is being broken. That's ok. We don't need to agree. I don't think you should quit or be voted out because we disagree. I don't think that you shouldn't e allowed to post your opinion. I even pointed out that I think you are one of the leaders in growth. JMO.

I have no problem waiting for @BranchingHammer or Adam to weigh in. I am also willing to stop posting about this subject if everyone else is as well.

We'll see what happens.

Scdell · Jan 3, 2022

IslandLifeReef said:
^^^^This is where we agree.

Where we seem to disagree is whether or not a contestant should point out when a rule is being broken. That's ok. We don't need to agree. I don't think you should quit or be voted out because we disagree. I don't think that you shouldn't e allowed to post your opinion. I even pointed out that I think you are one of the leaders in growth. JMO.

I have no problem waiting for @BranchingHammer or Adam to weigh in. I am also willing to stop posting about this subject if everyone else is as well.

We'll see what happens.

Ok. All good. Let's concentrate on getting branching hammer involved. If we can't then let's get Adam involved. I agree, this thing can't run on it's own. Someone needs to make decisions, good bad or ugly. A free for all isn't going to work.

Oregon Grown Reef · Jan 3, 2022

Okay, to steer the thread in the right direction, I'm finally going to answer a question posed when my frag died 5 months ago.

"What caused my coral to die after it was doing really well?

Laziness! I have to admit something to you all...I skipped some water changes...and I paid for it. I found heavy metals in my tank after all of my acros started to die. Alk, CA, and MG were within range, alk and CA especially being stable thanks to kalkwasser. I was testing and dosing nitrates/phosphates because they were so low. I had them within range, so there was no need to do a water change...or so I thought. To this day I couldn't find what was causing the contamination, but after several series of large water changes and months of sulking, I feel like I can talk about it. I had a lot of nice acros (nothing like what @The Camaro Show has, but nice to me), so it was almost made me leave the hobby. Over time I fell back in love with my first love of the hobby...my fish. Then I started reading reef2reef again and got super excited. I just purchased my first acros since the contest started. My stomach is in knots from anxiety and I'm now having to use gfo for phosphates...but I'm excited to be back in it. I've been in the hobby for 4 years and it feels like I'm starting over again, but in a good way.

I see each and every one of you comment on several other posts, so it's not like we can make snide remarks and then not have to be around each other. I don't know most of your names, and I don't comment often, but reading everyone else's interactions makes me feel like I know some of you. It's 2022 and we're all still on a forum talking to each other. It seems like such an outdated form of communication, but we all love it here. Regardless of the outcome, whether you're in or not @The Camaro Show, thanks for being a part of it. I don't think we can blame @IslandLifeReef for wanting to follow the rules and we should stop getting upset with him. In a different situation, I'm sure we can mostly agree that we'd be upset if it was another thing we were passionate about. We're all human, so I know all of you can think of a time you were also like that. Eventually either @BranchingHammer or @Battlecorals will step in. It does feel like the contest was abandoned, but let's not make it something that divides us. Also think about what is going on in their lives that stops them from being able to comment and set the record straight.

Tl;dr Can't we all just get along? And also do your water changes. Happy reefing!!!